1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a communication technology for supporting unlicensed bands, and more specifically, to a method and an apparatus for controlling access to gateways in unlicensed bands based on a service level of a terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of information and communication technologies, various wireless communication technologies are being developed. Wireless communication technologies are broadly classified into wireless communication technologies using licensed bands and wireless communication technologies using unlicensed bands (e.g., an industrial scientific medical (ISM) band). Since a licensed band is licensed exclusively to an operator, wireless communication technologies using the licensed band, can provide better reliability and better communication quality than wireless communication technologies that use unlicensed bands.
A long term evolution (LTE) standard defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) may be a typical wireless communication technology using a licensed band. In the LTE communication network, each of base stations (e.g., evolved Node-B (eNB)) and terminals (e.g., user equipment (UE)) can transmit and receive signals through a license band. Also, a wireless local area network (WLAN) defined as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 may be a typical wireless communication technology using an unlicensed band. In the WLAN communication network, each of an access point (AP) and stations (STAB) can transmit and receive signals through an unlicensed band.
In the existing communication technology supporting an unlicensed band, a terminal transmits data by accessing a channel according to a random backoff procedure, and a higher priority of accessing the channel is given to a terminal having a higher service level by varying a size of a contention window (CW) according to service levels of terminals.
However, such a technology alone may have a problem. Specifically, in a network environment in which a large number of terminals are connected to a gateway, it may be difficult to ensure channel access of a terminal having a high service level even if the CW size varies depending on the service levels.
Meanwhile, the technology as a related art is intended to enhance understanding of the background of the invention, and may include contents that are not known to the person of ordinary skill in the art.